Edward Peacock, a Baptist minister and carpenter, introduced his Peacock Puzzles in 1853, having learnt his art from the well-known publisher and map dissector Edward Wallis in London during the 1830s. Peacock travelled to Australia in 1841, becoming a policeman, schoolteacher, missionary and eventually postmaster. He returned to England in 1853 where he began the company Peacock & Co. making children’s furniture, toys and dissected maps. In 1861, his son, William, took over the company, expanding it to become recognised as one of the world’s most prolific producers of wooden jigsaws. He did not produce his own maps for the puzzles, relying on those already successfully in the marketplace such as those by George Philip & Son and Gall & Inglis. The latter was a company with offices in both Edinburgh and London and established between the dates of 1810 and 1960. Peacock & Co. produced high quality dissected maps in distinctive wooden boxes with sliding lids until the turn of the 20th century when cardboard became a more viable option. Chad Valley took over the company in 1934.

Edward Peacock, a Baptist minister and carpenter, introduced his Peacock Puzzles in 1853, having learnt his art from the well-known publisher and map dissector Edward Wallis in London during the 1830s. Peacock travelled to Australia in 1841, becoming a policeman, schoolteacher, missionary and eventually postmaster. He returned to England in 1853 where he began the company Peacock & Co. making children’s furniture, toys and dissected maps. In 1861, his son, William, took over the company, expanding it to become recognised as one of the world’s most prolific producers of wooden jigsaws. He did not produce his own maps for the puzzles, relying on those already successfully in the marketplace such as those by George Philip & Son and Gall & Inglis. The latter was a company with offices in both Edinburgh and London and established between the dates of 1810 and 1960. Peacock & Co. produced high quality dissected maps in distinctive wooden boxes with sliding lids until the turn of the 20th century when cardboard became a more viable option. Chad Valley took over the company in 1934.